Cool Hand Guerrero - Recap

At a motel in Redding County, Alabama, Guerrero forges a passport for his childhood friend, Jerry Mopes. Jerry tries to share his troubles with Guerrero, but he doesn't want to hear it. He tells his friend to lay low and avoid drug running, and confirms that the package Jerry sent him is safe back in San Francisco. They embrace and Jerry prepares to leave, and Guerrero makes sure he pays up before he goes.

In San Francisco, Ilsa tells Chance and Winston that Guerrero has gone missing for the last two weeks. They aren't worried, and explain that he disappears from time to time for side jobs. When she wonders what, they tell her it's safer for all of them if they don't know.



Guerrero heads to his car and spots the sheriff and his men nearby. As he gets in, the sheriff comes over and asks him to get out of the car and open the trunk. Guerrero obliges, and discovers that Jerry's corpse is in the trunk, shot twice in the head. The officers arrest him for the murder.

Later, a guard, Eddie brings Chance to see Guerrero in the Redding County detention city. Guerrero insists he has everything under control, and wonders how they found him. Chance explains that Ilsa tracked him down, and wants to know what's up. He offers to get the evidence from Guerrero's office in San Francisco, but Guerrero doesn't trust the system and says that he'll handle his own problems.



Chance goes outside and meets with Winston, and tells him that Guerrero plans to bust out. They figure that he can do it, but if they do then they can never see him again. They go to a diner and Winston digs into a plate of crawfish. Chance figures that Guerrero is being stubborn, and they need to protect him from himself. He insists that Guerrero is innocent, and points out that he would never have left the receipt for the local gun purchase in the trunk with Jerry's body. They need to get the case open, and Chance calls the office.

When Ames comes in, Ilsa asks her to get Guerrero's lock open, since he changed the combination so Ilsa's master key doesn't work. Ames reluctantly agrees and gets his locker open. However, the case is another story.

Eddie brings Bubba, a new prisoner, into Guerrero's cell.

Ames calls Chance and tells him that they can't get the case open. He tells them to bring it so he can shoot it open.

Bubba tells Guerrero to reveal where Jerry's package is. When Guerrero refuses, Bubba attacks him but is quickly dispatched.



Chance and Winston wait outside the prison.

Eddie finds Bubba unconscious in the cell. Guerrero drops down behind him, knocks him out, and steals his uniform.

Winston and Chance spot Guerrero as he slips out of the prison. Chance confronts him as he leaves and tells him that he can't have Guerrero on his team if he's a fugitive. Even if they prove he's innocent, he'll be on the run. Guerrero is okay with that, but they ask him for one day. He tells them that he's going to kill the men who took out Jerry. Chance sympathizes, but says they can't have Guerrero running around with a warrant for his arrest. He reluctantly agrees to trust them for one day and goes back inside as the alarms go off.

Warden Clancy Cole comes to see Guerrero in his cell. He orders his guards to beat Guerrero as payback for attacking Eddie during his escape.



Winston and Chance go to the gun store where Guerrero supposedly bought the gun. They figure they can ID the real buyer from the security cameras, but discover that the video isn't streamed online. Chance goes in posing as a telephone repairman while Winston sabotages the line. He tries to get back to the security office to check the lines, but the clerk doesn't let him. Chance tells Winston they need another distraction.

Aboard Ilsa's jet, Ames tries to get the case open and figures that the combination must have some personal meaning. They realize they don't know anything about him.

Cole comes to see Guerrero and offers him a tray of food. Guerrero refuses to lower himself to prison slop and the warden drops it on the floor.

Chance tells Winston he's going to do a grab-and-go, runs into the office, and grabs the security recordings. When the clerk notices, he yells for help and all of the customers grab guns and open fire on him. Chance takes out the camera and manages to get out to the van, and Winston drives away.

Ames realizes that Guerrero used his car's nickname, ELDO, for the password. Inside they find a delivery log, as well as files on all of his teammates. There are children's photos, arrest records, bank statements, and transcripts from the phone taps he has on their lines. Ames notices a photo of a little boy on a tricycle.



Chance and Winston examine the security recordings and realize that Eddie, the prison guard, bought the gun. Ilsa calls them and confirms that the log reveals the deliveries went to the prison. Chance finds the sheriff and confesses to robbing the gun store. He's locked up in prison and gets a cell next to Guerrero. He tells Guerrero that they found the notebook in his locker and they know about the meth dealers.

Winston goes to a diner to meet with Ilsa and Ames, and explains that Chance went into the prison to speed things up before Guerrero does something regrettable. There's a scheduled drop-off at a nearby truck stop, and Winston is going to go there with Ames to find evidence in case Chance's plan fails. He wants Ilsa to go see the governor.

Guerrero admits that Cole put him in prison to get him to turn over the notebook. When he learns that Eddie bought the gun, Guerrero promises to kill him but Chance says there's more. Cole used to work for the DEA before becoming a warden, and neither one is a high-paying job. Despite that, Cole has $1 million in off-shore accounts. Chance figures that the meth lab is in the prison and asks Guerrero to identify any likely buildings.

Ilsa meets with Governor Strong, who is the middle of a re-election campaign and doesn't want to investigate Cole without evidence. Ilsa responds by offering him a $50,000 political contribution if he cooperates.

At the truck stop, Winston and Ames look for the truck described in the delivery log. Ames breaks in and they find boxes full of snow globes, handmade by inmates. Each snow globe contains a packet of meth. Before they can leave with the evidence, the driver locks the door and drives to the rendezvous.



The guards take Chance and Guerrero to the mess hall, where Bubba and three of his friends are waiting. The prisoners don't last long. Chance and Guerrero run outside and ride the underside of a truck to the building containing the meth lab. Cole and his man come in and take them captive, and the warden admits that he had Jerry killed. He has the gate opened and tells them they have ten seconds to run before the guards open fire. They refuse, and the warden orders his tower sniper to open fire. Guerrero and Chance grab the guards and use them as shields long enough to escape into the building.

Ames and Winston finally manage to get their GPS working and tell Ilsa where they're heading. Ilsa insists that Young should go with her since she's paying for his services.

Chance starts mixing a Molotov cocktail, and Guerrero shoots some barrels of chemicals to hold off the guards as they move in.



The truck pulls over and Winston prepares to shoot the driver when he opens the door. They discover that Ilsa and Young have found them, and brought the state troopers with them.

Guerrero and Chance take to the rafters to get above Cole and the remaining guards. Chance drops his Molotov cocktail on them, and then leaps down with Guerrero to take the guards out. Cole tries to run but Guerrero easily captures him and prepares to shoot him dead. Chance asks him to stop, and the police arrive before Guerrero can cut his eye out. Guerrero complains that they took too long to rescue him and walks away without thanking them.



Later, Chance and Guerrero are released. They go outside and Guerrero discovers that the police tore up his car's interior. Ilsa asks him to join them in the plane while she ships his car home, so they can discuss his spying on them. Guerrero says he won't bother following them anymore and asks for his briefcase back. He asks if they found anything else, and Ames hastily says they didn't. As they go, Chance offers to buy Guerrero a drink. They go to the diner and Chance suggests that he call them next time. Guerrero doesn't believe he's serious, and accuses him of acting like his dad. Chance says that "his" birthday is coming up and gives Guerrero one of the snow globes as a present, figuring Guerrero didn't have time to shop. Guerrero thanks Chance for the gesture.



Later, Guerrero drives up to a quiet suburban home in San Francisco, and carries the present inside... walking past a tricycle on the sidewalk.

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